The eight missing homes along one of Oxford's 'ghost roads'
Abandoned roads can be found across the city and beyond
Head out of Oxford along the Eynsham Road at Deans Court, and something puzzling becomes apparent - there seems to be eight missing houses.
The numbers stop at 137 and start again at 155. Numbers 139, 141, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151 and 153 simply don’t exist.
Perhaps they once did, but were demolished when the construction of the A420 Cumnor Bypass sliced Eynsham Road in half in the late 1970s.
There’s hearsay evidence to say this was the case, but currently nothing more concrete than that.
If not though, then why the missing numbers?
Nevertheless, a new stretch of Eynsham Road was then built under the A420, leaving the two halves of the original route as dead end roads to nowhere.
It’s a classic example of a ‘ghost road’ - routes that have been annexed, converted into laybys or cycle paths, left unfinished or simply abandoned and left to nature.
And there are plenty more, not just across Oxfordshire but the rest of the UK too. There’s even a Facebook group dedicated to the subject.
Other local examples include a short abandoned stretch along the A4183 Oxford Road just outside Abingdon, near the famous Spitfire garage.
Between the villages of Steventon and Drayton, there’s a ghost road off the B4017 Abingdon Road that connects to the northbound A34.
When the Abingdon Bypass was completed in 1978, the A34 as we know it today ended at this point, with all traffic diverted down this link road. It then became redundant when the A34 was extended further southwards.
And just east of Kingston Bagpuize, the only traffic on the old Oxford to Fyfield road are walkers and cyclists.
Are there any other ghost roads in and around Oxford? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.
I can offer two missing shops in Oxford City Centre. Shepherd & Woodward in the High is only three shops wide but is numbered 109–113 (five consecutive shop numbers). This is because the original shops at 109 and 110 were demolished when King Edward Street was created from scratch in 1873.
Old Road in Headington, which officially ends at Shotover Country Park but which really continues on as a country track through to Old Road in Wheatley. This original route from Oxford to London was replaced by the 'new' London Road. It's a handy shortcut if the traffic's bad and you've a suitable 4x4... just don't tell anyone..!